Matt Porteus (right) and Robin Lovell-Badge (left) clarify some statements made by He Jiankui. Courtesy of Vivian Tam (School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Hong Kong)

Robin Lovell-Badge gives his perspective on the recent report from Jiankui He of the world's first genome edited babies and discusses if and how clinical applications of germline genome editing in humans may be justifiable.

We are pleased to announce a Company of Biologist's Workshop, organised by Fiona Doetsch and Maria Lehtinen, bringing together scientists working on all aspects of choroid plexus and cerebrospinal fluid biology. The Workshop will be held in July 2019 at Wiston House, UK. Ten funded early-career places are available – apply here before 31 March 2019.

Development is pleased to welcome submissions for an upcoming Special Issue on ‘Chromatin and Epigenetics’, edited by Benoit Bruneau, Haruhiko Koseki, Susan Strome and Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla. This special issue aims to showcase the best research covering the chromatin-based and epigenetic mechanisms which regulate development across the plant and animal kingdoms. Submission deadline: 31 March 2019.

Extensive and dynamic genome binding by a steroid hormone receptor highlights the interconnection between systemic and local cues for organ development, shows a preprint written by Christopher Uyehara and Daniel McKay and highlighted by Natalie Dye.

Catch up with other recent preLights selected for the developmental biology community.